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User blog:EviHard/A land to the west, the tale of Balion.
Hello, hello! Archive Master Evi here, back from my 9 month journey to the western kingdom of Balion. Sit down children and listen as I tell you a story of an absolutely magnificent kingdom far, far west. ''DISCLAIMER: ''This story, as well as all my other stories in my universe, are completely fictional and are in no way associated with official Taleworlds lore. I am simply a fan of the series that is attempting to fil in the vague terms mentioned by the Taleworlds devs. We Calradians know of Balion since the 9th century, when their trading ships landed on Rhodokian shores, giving us the crossbow. Even though dozens of ships carrying Balionian immigrants land on the west coast of Calradia, and hundreds trading boats coming as well, there has never been a true expedition by a Calradian to the vague land we only know of as being west, past the Great Western Ocean. So, around mid July last year, I, along with an entourage of a crew of thirty-five sailors, mercenaries and scribes from all six of the Calradian kingdoms, embarged on our voyage to this mysterious land. Listen closely as I explain the details from our simply amazing trip. The voyage to the land itself was a hard one. After a solid four days of sailing, we sighted the port of a town the natives call "Linden". Making landfall at this place, we were, frankly, quite surprised by the fact that they aren't that different than us. After talking with our Balionian travel guide, Ari, we were accepted into the Royal Hall as guests, invited by the High King himself. There, as my entourage were enjoying themselves on the court, I immediately talked to the court scribe, asking him to explain the political infastructure of this seemingly similar but completely alien land. This, of course, was a historic event, as we were the first Calradians to land on Balionian shores. We landed on the Twentieth of April 1257, a couple of minutes after noon. Balion is an odd place. Divided into three kingdoms, the High King of Balionian is king in almost nothing but name. The state is led by the "Parliament" which is split into three houses (The nobility, the Law (commoner mayors and village elders) and the People). While all of this is fine and dandy, the King himself still retains absolute power of the realm, deciding the tough decisions and choosing when is the time for war or peace. The three kingdoms are split as such: Laba, Lat Tluc and Berihnia (// Anagrams of Alba, Alt Clut and Hibernia, respectively based on England, Scotland and Ireland\\). While Laba retains the position of top dog, the kingdoms of Lat Tluc and the counties of Berihnia are valiant to retain their independence. We were in Laban territory, situated in the east of the continent. The south was populated by Berihnians, with the capital being Seh Renn. In the northern mountains, Lat Tluc had the biggest fortress in the land, Shaw Hill. The largest city was Ambean. As the scholar explained, these three nations were seperated by the large rivers situated in the land, the Nersev, Haemts and Ckor. The Haemts is the river Linden is situated on, and seperates Lat Tluc and Laba from one another. The Nersev, a primarily northern river, starts in the mountains of the north and meets with the river Ckor in Berihnia, and the meeting is the place where the capital, Seh Renn, is situated. Lat Tluc has a single king that rules the lands, very similar to the Vaegirs in infastructure but a completely different culture altogether. Laba frequently wages wars with the rather strange Berihnians. Obviously the most primitive culture in the land, the Berihnians, seperated by five counties, are constantly at war with each other as the five counts wage war upon one another to claim the title of Berihnkonungr, King of the Berihnians. Laba, which is their common enemy, is the only thing these power hungry counts agree upon. I was told by the High King Aethwing to relay the following message to the various soveregins in Calradia: "I send you my salutations. While we are both united by the desire to be the king of all the land, I ask of you to leave the cities of Veluca and Sargoth alone, as they are most profitable to our land." This was rather odd, I must say. Another difference that the Balionians and us Calradians do not have in common: our blatency. Departing the Linden court, I soon travelled to Lat Tluc, excited to see what this enormous fortress had to offer. I was, to be quite honest, surprised by it's sheer scale. Giant walls of stone, one big watch tower above the gate and a flame located inside the fortress itself, which I guess is for navigational purposes. Greeted by the gentry of the court. Inside I met the Field Prince Pipen the Half-born, who is said to be half a man and half a Hrorek, a giant human-like man from Lat Tlucan mythology. Finding these quite guteral names hard to pronounce, I named the land Latia. He explained that he has never seen a man from the east in his life, and that he has spent most of his adult life on the battlefield. Over a dish of what seems to be tea and, from what I understand, char-grilled sheep gut sausages, he told me that in the last twelve years there have been four invasions of Latian soil by the Labans. Successfully repulsing each one, Pipen became a war hero and the Labans were forced to leave Latia alone. Asking him as to what position he holds, he coldly replied that he is the Marshal of the kingdom and the Heir-Apparent since the King's sons are, and I quote "milk-drinkers who can't even lift a calf". I quite enjoyed Latia, the food was questionable and their accents are quite gutteral. Rough around the edges, this land presents itself as full of charm. Departing southwards via the river Nersev, I entered Seh Renn in quite an uncommon sight. The city was besieged! Of course, I hadn't received any warning by the Labans or Latians, but it seems as though they were used to it and weren't obliged to say it. Stuck in the city for two months, I was delighted to see the siege engines turn tail and depart back eastwards. As they left, I was quick to learn of the political situation in the land itself. The Ragadee county, located in the north west of the land, is in posession of Seh Renn and maintains excelent relations with Laba. It's eastern neighbour, Poracht, disagrees and frequently declares war on this county. Mide is smack in the middle of the land, in control of the biggest city in the country, Grensburh. Tonwind is a weak county, successively beaten by the Ckorans in two civil wars, although the internal struggle with the Ckorans may lead to a civil war between themselves... While their music is beautiful and culture incredible, these war-bent counties constantly wage war between one another, which is apparent as the glum weather of the land perfectly reflects the still dirty battlefields of Berihnia. Mercenaries will thrive here. Even though filled with tension, this land has redeeming qualities when you look past the war and silly accents. In a culture not so differnet to ours, Laba is a fantastic land to explore for one who doesn't want that much out of the ordinary, but still enough to hold the land deep in his memory. Latia is a land that is cold and hard, but also filled with people who adapted to this enviroment. Look past the rather strange cuisine and you will find a land very different than ours. Berihnia is not a land I'd reccomend for the sight-seer. To be honest, the situation there is worse than Calradia itself. This also means that this is a land where a sell-sword, in this case my now former manservant Marnid will be enamored with. Departing from Linden, we returned to Veluca on the Fourteenth of March 1258. Should travelling resources be available soon, this is a land I fully reccomend one will go visit. Now, I come back to this land to see quite an odd character trying to make his own kingdom... That's the end of the tale. Thanks for reading. I quite enjoyed writing this one, departing from my story-telling style, I hope you guys like this travel-guide like version of writing. Don't expect it to appear soon. Special thanks go to the Red Wars development team for the names of Linden, Ambean, Greensburg and Harper, as well as a basic geographical concept. Leave a comment suggesting what I should do next, what you didn't like with the story or just positive feedback. I will probably be doing more of these soon, as I have started binge playing Warband and am really inspired to do more stories. Category:Blog posts